Katrina, from Kalem Photography, won our Canada Day contest! We are also very excited to announce that her Facebook Ads campaign will be running in August! Keep your social media eye out for it!
What was her amazing prize?
She won a 1-hour personal consultation time with us (October 17 Media)! How’s that not amazing, right? But, it didn’t stop there. Her prize also included $100 for a Facebook Ads campaign.
(more…)
Even WE get a little tired of Facebook from time to time. Sheesh!
We thought we’d tell you about a really funky new social media site that is gaining speed super quickly and could be an amazing resource for businesses to show the world what they do! When the proof is in the pudding, it’s not hard to sell. Anyhow… it’s called Pinterest!
The Stanley Cup finals have been the center of attention for weeks, yet on Wednesday evening following the Canucks’ loss in Game 7, the attention quickly shifted to Vancouverites as rioters took over the Downtown core. The Vancouver Police Department had been dreading the possibility of a riot, after experiencing one in 1994 following a loss during that year’s Stanley Cup finals. Like the riot in ‘94, there was chaos, violence and destruction. What undeniably separates the most recent riot from the one in ‘94 is the overwhelming presence of social media.
The many civilians taking photo and video footage during the riot is an excellent case of the “everyone is a reporter” mentality that social media has cultivated. Facebook and Twitter were being overrun with photo evidence of criminal activity at the same rate, or often quicker, than the police and traditional news sources were documenting them. Because of this, the world became aware of the riot much quicker than if they had relied on traditional media for information.
There’s been criticism that by remaining in the crowd and not dispersing at the request of the riot squad, these amateur news correspondents were only encouraging the mob. While this may be true on some level, it can be argued that the Vancouver PD now has a much richer collection of evidence to draw from when arresting rioters in the coming months.
During and following the riot, the Vancouver PD embraced social media, taking to their Twitter account (@VancouverPD) to update the public and to request photo and video evidence to be sent to them. As an efficient way of submitting videos, they are asking people to share video clips with the police via YouTube. If you have evidence to share with the police, please click here to learn how you can help.
Within hours of the riot starting, a Facebook event called “Post Riot Clean Up: Let’s Help Vancouver” was created as a rallying point and information source for volunteers wanting to help the city clean up the mess. By mid-morning following the riot, an astounding 15,000 people had marked themselves as “attending”. Certainly a large number of these individuals kept their word, as the Downtown core is currently the most spotless it has been in ages!
Organizers of the Post Riot Clean Up also established the @VancouverClean Twitter account, which was used to inform citizens of latest developments and to encourage action. Overnight, the account had amassed nearly 3,500 followers.
Proud Vancouverites have also been taking to social media platforms to share inspiration and positivity in an effort to rebuild the community and show the world what Vancouver is really made of. For example, local photographer Andy Fang snapped photos during the clean up to recognize and celebrate the volunteers, whom he has dubbed “the REAL citizens of Vancouver”. His pictures have been featured as a photo gallery at The Province.
Vancouver resident Don Falconer (@TheFalconer) has been instrumental in bringing back hope and positivity to fellow Vancouverites. He created the hashtag #ThisIsMyVancouver in the hopes of turning around the negativity and remembering why Vancouver is such a fantastic place to live by encouraging Twitter users to include it in tweets with positive messages and photos. To his amazement, his hashtag gathered momentum, eventually becoming a trending topic in Vancouver. Everyone from CBC News to Tourism Vancouver to Vancouver Is Awesome have adopted this hashtag in an effort to help rebuild the city’s image. Falconer credits @VancouverClean with helping popularize the hashtag.
The tweet that started it all:
Social media is being used in a big way in cracking down on rioters who are guilty of vandalism, violence and robbery, among many other possible charges. Numerous rioter identification sites and groups have been set up by the public. For example, identifyrioters.com has a “connect to Facebook” functionality that allows users to tag lawbreakers in incriminating photos. Once a rioter has been positively identified by multiple users, the photos and evidence is sent to the Vancouver PD.
Already, riot participants are feeling the consequences: as Global BC reports, a 21-year old Vancouver man was fired from his job, following riot comments he made on Facebook. Surely many more jobs will be at stake in the coming weeks. There have also been reports of perpetrators turning themselves in to police after having friends and family members see their photos online.
Designing for a website is difficult when you want both aesthetics and functionality. Sometimes beautifully made websites can be fun to look at, but may not be user interface friendly. There are also websites which are made to be purely functional, but the graphics are a total bore. A middle ground between the two is needed so the best of both worlds can come together to create something amazing: a website that is gorgeous and usable. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Wouldn’t that be the bees knees if that were the case!
Okay, so here’s how we think you should plan before you design your website:
1. Write a list of goal outcomes for your website.
2. Research your competitors. See what you like and don’t like about their sites.
3. Visit hundreds of websites and record which ones you liked and why. Share these findings with the design firm you choose in step 4.
4. Interview web design firms. Choose the designer(s) whose portfolio and work style suit your needs.
5. Share with the design team what you want to accomplish for your website.
So, now it’s time to review your goals and consider how your new or current website is working at achieving these goals. This will help you decide on a layout that finds that middle ground that you need for a beautiful and functional website.
Try following one of our favorite rules at October 17 Media – “Form ever follows function!” It may be beautiful to have elaborate designs and illustrations, but if it becomes distracting and doesn’t serve a purpose to your website, then you can afford to simplify your design.
If you keep these tips in mind and are able to find strategies to meet your goals, then you are ready to start designing!
Below are some examples of great web designs and user friendly capabilities:
Your pay-per-click campaign and search engine optimization efforts have paid off; you’re finally getting lots of visitors to your website! Maybe your website design looks fantastic, but no one seems to be buying. What’s up with that?
Our question to you is…have you told them what to do? No seriously, have you? After your visitors have finished reading your “About” and “Product/Services” pages, what are they supposed to do? You have to tell them! This is where the importance of calls to action comes in.
A call to action gives clear instructions to visitors about what they need to do next. It should be simple and visible on every single page of your website. So, what is your call to action? Every website has different objectives because every business has specific goals they want to achieve through their website. It may be getting visitors to make a purchase online, sign up for an email newsletter subscription or book an online reservation.
However, not all calls to action need to lead to a sale. It may just as easily be having a visitor request more information. Check-out our October 17 Media calls to action:
As well, there is no rule that your call to action needs to be at the very bottom of your pages. You may want to have a call to action on the high right side of your page. This has become a trend in recent years and website visitors may be familiar with this placement. Here are some other tips you can follow:
Thinking about reviewing your site to see if you’ve got your calls to action in the best places? We’ve got your answers! Feel free to give us a call or send us an email!
October 17 Media specializes in website development, paid search advertising, social media and viral marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and email marketing.
